After his wife and child died and the government took away his family farm Sam Gray had no home left to return to so he began hopping freight trains, utilized the network of tracks sprawling across the Southern States to keep ahead of his war induced necrosis. He survived by foraging and doing odd jobs. Occasionally he used his experience as a combat medic to help people in need.

As time passes, people along the tracks began to refer to him as Dr. Graybones due in part to his downcast nature and his ability to set broken bones.

During his wanderings Sam kept a journal where he recorded over a dozen encounters with what he called "Giant toadstools growing on automobiles'.

In the summer of 1953 Sam approached the Rev. P. Fowler who ran the soup kitchen in Talladega Alabama. He asked the Reverend to safeguard his knapsack. The Reverend having heard of Sam's good reputation gladly accepted the duty.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Between 1943 and 1953 a hobo known as Dr Graybones drew more than a dozen pictures of the "Giant Toadstools" he encountered while hopping freight trains. Posted here are few drawing pulled from his journal.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Samuel Gray was born on August 23, 1921 at his family's farm in Moss Springs Tennessee. He was drafted into the US Army the day after his twenty first birthday in 1941. Before leaving for boot camp he married Janet Rowbark. She became pregnant with their first and only child Carolyn.

At bootcamp Sam was given eight weeks of medical training and promoted to the rank of Field Medic First Class. He was deployed to the South of France in January 1942.

In April the US Government took possession of the Gray farmstead as well as the town of Moss Springs as part of a 90 square mile land acquisition act. This land was used for the top secret nuclear research and refinement facility that was later to be known as the Manhattan Project.

The Gray family was given four weeks to vacate the property. Sam's father moved to Nashville in hopes of finding work. Janet and her baby moved to Pikeville to stay in a converted toolshed on her Uncle Bill's farm. In December both Janet and the baby developed scarlet fever and died. Their were buried in Pikeville.

Sam was shot on the morning on January 2nd 1943. He was treated in the field hospital for a wound to his left hand. They removed his small finger. from there he was shipped to the Crile Military Hospital in the United States. He remained there for three months where he was treated for combat fatigue and psychoneurotic disorder.

On May 14th, Sam was honorably discharged and given a train ticket to Nashville.

He stayed one night in Nashville at his father's single room apartment. The next morning he boarded a train with a ticket to Pikeville. Sam wrote the following in his journal:

"The train pulled into Pikeville, and my eyes filled with tears, my ears filled with explosions, and my body turned to stone. In time I realized the train was moving again, and I knew I would never set foot in Pikeville".

In 1953 Sam Gray, a hobo known by the name of Dr. Graybones left his knapsack in the care of Rev. P. Fowler with instructions to keep it safe. Sam was never seen or heard from again...

...Sixty years later as the old church was being dismantled Sam's knapsack was donated to the Nomadic Fungi Institute.

Among the contents of the knapsack is Sam's journal. It is stuffed with his drawings of peculiar toadstools. These are the earliest known records of Nomadic Fungi yet found, pushing the date back to 1944.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

The Nomadic Fungi Institute has received a curious knapsack whose contents has pushed the earliest documented sighting of a Nomadic Fungus back to 1944.

This knapsack belonged to Dr. Graybones, a hobo who traveled throughout the southern states from 1943 to 1953.

Inside are the basic items that make life livable along the railroad tracks; a knife, spoon, matches, wool gloves and a journal where Dr. Graybones penned down his observations, including several encounters with Giant Toadstools.

The Nomadic Fungi Institute is in the process of archiving this canvas treasure trove and will soon publish a small catalogue - Dr Graybones And His Curious Knapsack. The first edition will be available through the White Rock Zine Machine and the Deep Vellum bookstore.